John Talbot Smith was born in Saratoga, New York. He studied divinity at St. Michael's College in Toronto, Canada and was ordained to the priesthood in 1881. He was pastor of St. Patrick's in Watertown, N.Y., pastor of Rouse's Point, chaplain to the Christian Brothers at De La Salle Institute, chaplain of the Sisters of Mercy as well as pastor of Dobbs Ferry. He also wrote in other genres.